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It is difficult at time to engage adult students in learning the required information to take and pass the General Educational Development Test. GED teachers are always trying to find innovative techniques to motivate and engage adult learners who are studying for the GED test. One way to engage learners is with the Smart Board, the interactive board that allows teachers and students to write on it, play games, watch videos and put notes on for others to read.

Smart Board Activities for Reading

There are many Smart Board activities for the GED reading comprehension test, which will be renamed the Reasoning through Language Arts test. The Longwood Central School District has Smart Board activities for some works of literature; parts of speech; parts of a story, a poem and a drama; synonyms and antonyms and vocabulary. Instructors can use the links to review the material from literature that adult students may have missed in high school. The faculty at the University of Sioux Falls has a huge page of Smart Board links for high school students. There are self-study grammar quizzes and literature lessons with interactive quizzes to reinforce skills. The British Broadcasting Company has a website with several games and activities for the Smart Board for vocabulary and grammar. The BBC also has a Skillswise activities program for adult learners for the Smart Board as well.

Smart Board Activities for Math

There are plenty of Smart Board activities for math also. First, Math Vids has over 1000 math tutorial videos for students in algebra, geometry, numbers and operations and statistics. Teachers can use the tutorial videos with individual students or with a group of students to aid and reinforce instruction. The BBC has Skillswise math interactive activities for adults; everything from addition through algebra is available. Cool Math has a lot of math games, activities, lessons and practice for the Smart Board as well. Worksheets Direct has Worksheets and Lessons directly tied to the 2014 GED that teachers can use on the Smart Board. This is important because students will be taking the new 2014 GED test for the first time beginning in January.

Smart Board Activities for Social Studies

Because social studies is such a broad topic, covering all of the topics in a GED class is difficult, so reviews on the Smart Board would be helpful. Longwood Central School District has reviews on world geography, the checks and balances system, U.S. History, world history review, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The Center School District in Missouri has several interactive Social Studies websites. Students can view short film clips on events in American history, download interactive United States and world maps and create an interactive time line. Teachers could use the film clips to aid instruction on specific time periods, as students sometimes have an easier time watching a video of history than reading a book about history.

Smart Board Activities for Science

Like social studies, the science portion of the GED test covers a lot of material, and additional resources for instruction and review are always welcome. The Longwood Central School District in New York has numerous Smart Board resources for science with activities in chemistry, earth science, physical science and biology. The Red Clay School District also has some science lesson plans for review for the Smart Board, including an interactive periodic table. There is also a Smart Board Resources website with Physics resources and activities as well. Teachers could use science resources on the Smart Board by setting up a center to review the interactive periodic table on the whiteboard for students who need a refresher, for example.

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About the Author

Lori Garrett-Hatfield has a B.J. in Journalism from the University of Missouri. She has a Ph.D. in Adult Education from the University of Georgia. She has been working in the Education field since 1994, and has taught every grade level in the K-12 system, specializing in English education, and English as a Second Language education.